Hickory

• Hickory is a sought after hardwood. Its tight-grained pattern is a bit lighter than honey oak, but when a coating of lacquer or varnish is applied, it turns a slightly golden color, matching golden oak very closely. Hickory, although having a straighter grain pattern, has light thin streaks of black mineral that give it a deeper look. Honey oak also has dark streaks, but they are more of a zigzag pattern. The two patterns compliment each other.
  
  

Alder

• Alder is one of the softer of the hardwoods but also less expensive. Alder has a light brown color, almost neutral. When finish is applied, it turns a slightly yellow color with reddish overtones, which work well with the reddish-amber tints in honey oak. The two colors, although not a perfect match, will highlight each other and work together nicely.
  
  

Maple

• Maple is traditional flooring. It is highly prized for its hardness and durability. Maple is always a good choice for flooring. Maple is slightly lighter in color than a honey oak finish, but if you choose to use varathane, or varnish on the maple, it will turn darker and retain a golden color. It will be slightly lighter than honey oak, but its neutrality blends it well with honey oak. Maple flooring will also darken over the years, and in time, become almost a perfect color match to honey oak.
  
  

Birch

• For the hardest of hardwood flooring, birch has the market cornered. Birch runs streaks of dark brown through neutral cream-colored soft-grain. Soft grain is the part of the grain without any mineral streaks. The dark bands or streaks make up about one third of the grain pattern, and the dark streaks are much darker than the light soft grain. But the dark streaks add character and depth to the flooring. When a top coat of varnish or lacquer is applied, the lighter soft grain of the birch picks up the honey color. The dark streaks then sink back into the overall pattern, lending a more complex look to the honey oak, maple paring.